jct74
04-27-2014, 05:22 PM
Rand, Straightforwardly Libertarian, Gets a Warm Reception at Harvard
By A.J. Kritikos
April 27, 2014 6:40 PM
On Friday afternoon, Kentucky senator Rand Paul spoke at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Despite the libertarian and conservative arguments he put forth to the Cambridge audience, he was received warmly, though his more detailed legal arguments on national-security issues need some fine-tuning.
...
Overall, Senator Paul was impressive. Some on the right have criticized his attempts to reach out to historically liberal groups, such as college students, on the grounds that he merely resorts to arguing his liberal views — his drug-legalization remarks at Berkeley come to mind. Senator Paul was clearly trying to appeal to his Harvard audience by focusing his prepared remarks on privacy and security issues, but he didn’t pander. His comments on abortion, marriage, health care, gun rights, and campaign finance all didn’t waver much from views held by many mainstream conservatives.
And despite those arguments, the reception was overwhelmingly positive. The audience, even those who disagreed, seemed to respect that the senator responded to their questions with genuine arguments, and not party-line platitudes. Furthermore, the senator’s tone was tremendously pleasant, always at ease with himself and with the audience and never bristling when a questioner seemed to be criticizing him. He’s not there yet, but at this early stage in his political career, it’s easy to imagine Senator Paul being compared to an exceedingly personable young Arkansas governor from the early 1990s.
read more:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/376669/rand-straightforwardly-libertarian-gets-warm-reception-harvard-aj-kritikos
By A.J. Kritikos
April 27, 2014 6:40 PM
On Friday afternoon, Kentucky senator Rand Paul spoke at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Despite the libertarian and conservative arguments he put forth to the Cambridge audience, he was received warmly, though his more detailed legal arguments on national-security issues need some fine-tuning.
...
Overall, Senator Paul was impressive. Some on the right have criticized his attempts to reach out to historically liberal groups, such as college students, on the grounds that he merely resorts to arguing his liberal views — his drug-legalization remarks at Berkeley come to mind. Senator Paul was clearly trying to appeal to his Harvard audience by focusing his prepared remarks on privacy and security issues, but he didn’t pander. His comments on abortion, marriage, health care, gun rights, and campaign finance all didn’t waver much from views held by many mainstream conservatives.
And despite those arguments, the reception was overwhelmingly positive. The audience, even those who disagreed, seemed to respect that the senator responded to their questions with genuine arguments, and not party-line platitudes. Furthermore, the senator’s tone was tremendously pleasant, always at ease with himself and with the audience and never bristling when a questioner seemed to be criticizing him. He’s not there yet, but at this early stage in his political career, it’s easy to imagine Senator Paul being compared to an exceedingly personable young Arkansas governor from the early 1990s.
read more:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/376669/rand-straightforwardly-libertarian-gets-warm-reception-harvard-aj-kritikos